West Lothian 30/6

West Lothian’s campaign in the Cities and Counties Championship for The Hamilton Trophy has ended in grief with an inglorious performance away to Borders at Gordon resulting in a disappointing 32 shot defeat (126-94).

The high price paid for a costly performance that lacked passion and aggression was failure to clinch one of the top two places in the East section that would have taken West Lothian into the Last Eight Knockout stage of the prestige event. West Lothian entered the final match of the section campaign holding second place to East Lothian; but only one point ahead of Borders meaning the clash at Gordon was a winner take all one to reach the quarterfinals.

With the stakes therefore extremely high it was expected that the star studded West Lothian team would find an extra gear that would accelerate them to victory over a Border opposition often frustrated by inconsistency. But it was Borders that produced a lion hearted team effort and fired up by the spirit of having a tiger in their tanks a long-suffering home support cheered a victory that was richly deserved.

West Lothian were rocked back onto their heels by an opening onslaught that saw Borders zip into a 14 shot lead (23-9) after three ends and although taking a long time to enter a real comfort zone their supremacy endured from start to finish. Borders have long been admired and respected as exciting contributors to the reputation of the East being the most competitive of the four national sections; but they seldom make the top two so no one will begrudge them their 2016 chance of being in the mix to grab what would be their first ever Hamilton Trophy title glory. Blushes of West Lothian suffering defeat on all six rinks were spared by the contribution of Grant Logan who picked up from 7-4 down and included two mighty counts of five as he skipped Drew Paterson, David Lamb, and Mark Allison to a 28-21 win over Stuart White.

Borders did however inflict the pain of defeat on the rinks skipped by Raymond Logan, Sandy McDougall, Steven Fleming, Andy Dunnett, and Thomas Mann. Mann and his front-three of Andy Semple, Greg Baldry, and John Aitken came against the collar early doors and only managed to count at eight of the 21 ends as they suffered a punishing 25-10 defeat at the hands of S Richardson. Dunnett and his rink of Ewan Shearer, Jordan Pearce, and Walter McDougall were also on the end of a punishing double figure defeat having been in dire trouble at 20-2 down after nine ends then losing 27-15 to R Nichol. McDougall lost 19-14 to Graeme Forsyth, and Fleming went down 18-13 to Alistair White while Ray Logan was piped 16-14 by Kenny Johnstone.

Linlithgow BC tonight (Thurs) is the centre of the West Lothian Bowls Universe with the finals of the traditional County Championships down for decision. Calum Logan of Kirkliston bids to win the WLBA Junior Open for The Fred Meikle Trophy for a third time having triumphed in 2010 and 2014 while his opponent in the Jack High Insurance sponsored event is 2015 semi finalist Shaun Cairns of Harrysmuir. The club banners represented in the other finals are as follows; Queensferry v Pumpherston for The Baillie Trophy Singles title sponsored by Jack High Insurance; Kirkliston v Whitburn for the Dalyell Shield Pairs title sponsored by Mark Feeney; Bridgeness v Linlithgow for The MacLardy Trophy Triples title sponsored by Jack High Insurance; Bellsburn v Kirkliston for the Hopetoun Cup Fours title sponsored by Kirkliston BC.
West Lothian step up their challenge for the Jim Bell Under 25’s Scottsh Cup Trophy with a match against Renfrewshire at Cardonald BC this Sunday, The team reads, Rink 1. Jordan Walker, Jack Murphy, Jordan Pearce, and Jamie Aitken. Rink 2. Darren Pearce, Cameron Nicol, Grant Ramsay, and Greg Baldry. Rink 3. Nathan McKendrick, Shaun Cairns, Robbie Cuthill, and Scott McMaster. Rink 4. Jamie Deegan, Kyle Brodley, Jamie Edwards, and Connor McKendrick.

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